Oct. 11, 2007
David E. Steitz
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1730
david.steitz@nasa.gov
CONTRACT RELEASE: C07-52
NASA SELECTS 120 SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH PROJECTS
WASHINGTON - NASA has selected 120 proposals for negotiation of Phase
2 contract awards in the Small Business Innovation Research program,
known as SBIR. The selected projects have a total value of
approximately $72 million. NASA will award the contracts to 102 small
high technology firms in 27 states.
NASA's Innovative Partnerships Program - with offices at NASA
Headquarters in Washington and all of the agency's field centers -
collaborates with U.S. industry to develop pioneering technologies,
infuse them into agency missions and transition them into
commercially available products and services.
The SBIR program supports NASA's mission directorates by working with
them to competitively select ventures that address critical research
and technology needs for agency programs and projects. The effort
addresses specific technology gaps in mission programs and strives to
complement other agency research investments. Program results have
benefited NASA efforts, including modern air traffic control systems,
Earth observing spacecraft, the space shuttle, the International
Space Station and rovers on Mars.
Some research topic areas among this group of selected proposals
include:
- The development of more effective multi-disciplinary design,
analysis and optimization tools that will benefit flight vehicles
ranging from subsonic aircraft to rockets.
- A new data architecture that will allow engineers to design software
that better quantifies spacecraft data.
- Radiation hardened, stackable memory modules that will increase data
storage for science missions and enable increased computing and
storage capacities for space-based systems.
The SBIR program is a highly competitive, three-phase award system. It
provides qualified small businesses - including those owned by women
and the disadvantaged - with opportunities to propose unique ideas
that meet specific research and development needs of the federal
government.
Phase 1 is a feasibility study to evaluate the scientific and
technical merit of an idea. Awards are for as long as six months in
amounts up to $100,000. Phase 2 expands on the results of the
development in Phase 1. Awards are for as long as two years in
amounts up to $600,000. Phase 3 is for the commercialization of the
results of Phase 2 and requires the use of private sector or non-SBIR
federal funding.
Participants submitted 243 Phase 2 proposals. The criteria used to
select the winning proposals included technical merit and innovation,
Phase 1 results, value to NASA, commercial potential and company
capabilities.
NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif., manages the
program for the Innovative Partnership Program office. NASA's 10
field centers manage individual projects.
For a list of selected companies, visit:
http://sbir.nasa.gov
-end-